US HISTORY 118
Dr. Eric Mayer, Instructor
Essay Examination 1 Essay Exam must be emailed to: history118@gmail.com
Essay 1
(100 possible points). Discuss and analyze the main historical trends in US
History from 1870 and 1920.
Your essay must incorporate,
discuss and analyze 4 of the following themes:
The successes and failures of Reconstruction.
The course of US industrialism and its social costs.
Federal policy towards Native and African Americans.
The development of the women's movement and social reform.
The Labor movement in the US.
The Progressive Movement in the US.
Essay Format:
Your essay must be at least 1250
(minimum) words in length. You must cite from the Keene readings
and lecture. Whatever sources you use for your essay must be cited, even
if you paraphrase you must cite your sources. The easiest way to cite
sources is to use parenthetical citations that includes the author's last name
and page number(Mayer 199). If you use outside sources you must have a proper
bibliography.
Your first paragraph must
contain a series of causal arguments that you intend to historically prove in
the text of your essay. You need to tell the reader what caused what to
happen, when and why. You need to specifically state in your introduction
why all this stuff happened and your causal argument must be proveable.
Stay away from arguments like "greed" caused this history to happen
because psychological states simply are proveable
historically. Never pose rhetorical questions in your
essay. Rhetorical questions are cheap literary devices that make your
writing style non-assertive and give the reader the impression that you are not
in control of your essay or the material. Immediately give the reader
your overall causal argument, and then, in succeeding sentences of your first
paragraph list supporting arguments in chronological order. The
supporting arguments should be chronological in order and build on each other.
The topic sentences of
your paragraphs must do more than simply describe what the paragraph is about,
they must also state why the paragraph is important to the overall argument of
your essay. In other words, the topic sentence summarizes the paragraph,
but also links it back to one of the supporting arguments that you listed in
your introductory paragraph. You must have dates or at least periodize in
almost every paragraph. Paragraphs should be one-third to one-half page
in length. Finally, your essay must have a conclusion that restates your
original argument in light of the data and facts that were discussed in the
text of your essay. A paragraph is at least four sentences long.
To obtain an optimal grade
your essay must be clearly written. Clarity of style, proper grammar,
spelling, analytical organization and logical coherence are essential if you
wish to receive a passing grade. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TURN IN A FIRST DRAFT
as your finished essay. A decent paper will go through at least three
rewrites. Therefore revision, rewrite, revision, rewrite, etc., is the
process that will earn you a good grade. I will be happy to read drafts,
outlines, revisions, etc., of your paper.